Equality policy

We have published detailed information about the people and communities who live in our borough. This information can be found at www.welhat.gov.uk

Key trends and themes are:

Population

The population of the borough is rising, having increased by 10.4% between 2011 and 2016. The latest (mid-2016) estimate puts the population of Welwyn Hatfield District at 60,400 males and 61,600 females.

Age

Population projections show that the proportion of older people in the borough will increase significantly over the next 20 years. The proportion of people aged 65 and above is expected to increase from 16% to 19.5% of the population of the borough in this period.

Ethnicity

The largest ethnic group in Welwyn Hatfield is White (English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British), accounting for 76.5% of the population. That compares with a figure of 80.82% for Hertfordshire.

The largest other ethnic groups are ‘white other’ (5.89%), followed by Black/African/Caribbean/Black British: African (3.59%) and then Asian or Asian British: Indian (3.19%).

There has been a significant change in the ethnicity of the borough’s population in recent years, with ethnic diversity in the borough increasing substantially.

Between 2001 and 2011 the proportion of ‘white British’ residents has fallen by over 12%, whilst the percentage of all other minority ethnic groups collectively has more than doubled to 23.5%. This increase has been spread across all the other non-white ethnic groups.

Immigration

The increase in ethnic diversity is reflected in immigration data. There have been some important upward trends in Welwyn Hatfield. Since 2011/12 the estimated level of immigration has increased year-on-year. However this does not apply across all nationalities.

Between 2011 and 2015 immigration from New Commonwealth countries halved, from approximately 800 to 400 per annum whereas for the same period the registration of new migrants from EU13 countries increased from 400 to 1300 per annum. The largest increase in recent years has been Polish nationals.

Proficiency in Spoken English

In 2011, 91.44% of residents in Welwyn Hatfield used English as their main language. 0.99% of residents did not have English as a main language and could not speak English well. 0.13% of residents could not speak English at all.

Adult disability and health

15,908 people stated that they had a longterm health problem or disability that limited their day-to-day activities to some extent, which is 14.4% of the resident population.

Religion or belief

In 2011, over half of Welwyn Hatfield’s population considered themselves to be Christian (57.54%), with over one quarter of the remaining population confirming they either did not have a religion or did not state one.

The 2011 Census saw increases from 2001 in the percentage of residents considering themselves to be Hindu (1.5%) and Muslim (1.4%).

Sexual Orientation

(Living Arrangements, Marital & Civil Partnerships) Specific data on sexual identity is not available for any areas lower than regional level so they are not reported within this policy.